“The Guiding Hand” •

For thousands of years, Jews used simple tapered wooden sticks to point the way through the densely written text of the Torah without touching the fragile parchment. Over the millennia, the pointer (called a yad, “hand” in Hebrew)—developed into a unique art form. Some yads are still carved out of wood, others are shaped from silver or graphite, some ornamented with gold, ivory and jewels. More than 200 pointers of all styles and materialsby artists of diverse national origins are on display in an exhibition that draws from a collection amassed over the past 25 years by Clay Barr of Virginia Beach VA, and the Barr Foundation. Through May 30th at the Bernard Museum of Judaica at Temple Emanu-El’s Streicker Center in New York City. emanuelstreickernyc.org/events/the-guiding-hand

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